


a backless dress and some beat up sneaks

by kiss_me_cassie



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Dancing, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-06
Updated: 2016-07-06
Packaged: 2018-07-21 23:53:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7410163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiss_me_cassie/pseuds/kiss_me_cassie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A party, some dancing, some deadly assassins making the daring move to make their relationship public.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a backless dress and some beat up sneaks

**Author's Note:**

> For my kid, who won't shut up OR dance with me, but adores this song and refuses to stop earworming me with it. (At least it's better than last summer's Uptown Funk?) Also, this started out all light and fluffy in my head, but got a slightly away from that and I'm not sure why. It's still total fluff, though.

The party was in full swing and Natasha was having a fabulous time, twirling around to every song that played on Stark's fancy stereo system, and swapping out partners like she was changing her shoes. Stark, Thor, Darcy, Pepper… she danced with them all, the heavy thrum of the music swirling through the room making it impossible for her to stand still.

She'd even danced with Steve for a bit before Hill had shown up and dragged him away. She wasn't sure if it had been for business or pleasure, but that wasn't her problem to worry about, it was Steve's. 

For her part, she was just enjoying the evening, especially the chance to dance with Clint, who was usually too reserved to indulge her. But with the drinks flowing so freely and the music pulsing around them, even he was having a hard time resisting her as she shimmied against him.

With a dazzling smile she spun away from him, intending to seek out yet another partner, when he grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

"Where are you going?" he asked, his voice low and gravelly, barely audible above the peppy lyrics about dancing with his destiny.

She shot him a dazzling smile and then glanced over her shoulder to where Bruce stood, looking uncomfortable amidst the small, giddy crowd. He held a glass in his hand that she was sure was just water, although she knew he cultivated the illusion that it was something stronger. 

"To dance with Bruce," she said simply.

"No."

She didn't say anything at all, just looked at him with a raised brow, silently questioning his sudden possessiveness. Not that she minded it, exactly; she was his and always would be. It just wasn't very Clint-like of him, especially not at a party.

He tugged at her wrist and drew her a little closer to him, a small smile pulling at his lips. "Stay."

Hmm, definitely feeling a bit possessive. She tossed him a flirty look from under her lashes. "With you? Here?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

Her lips quirked up in a smile. "You ready to out us to Stark and open us up to all kinds of questions?"

"I think I am."

Of course he wasn't. He was simply trying to mark his territory. That didn't make her smile any less, of course.

"Or are you just jealous of Bruce?" 

His eyes narrowed and she had to bite back the playful retort of _Gotcha!_ that came to her lips. 

"Does it matter?" 

She swayed a bit towards him, but not enough to fully touch him.

"Maybe." She stopped mid-sway and cocked her head, thinking about it. Did it matter? Her smile faded a bit and she looked up at him seriously. "Yes. Yes, I think it does."

"I am jealous of Bruce getting your attention," he admitted, pulling her into his arms as an old Billy Joel song came on, replacing the bubblegum pop song that had been playing. "But mostly, I just don't want to let you get away from me."

"Oh?" she asked, her arms snaking up to circle his neck.

Pulling her flush against him, he started moving expertly to the slow, sweet notes of the song. "Is that so hard to imagine?"

"No," she said, a small wistful smile on her face. "What's hard to imagine is you willing to show the rest of the world what's between us. I thought you generally preferred keeping it private."

He dipped her low, his lips almost brushing against hers, but not quite. "Maybe I'm tired of hiding what I feel for you. Maybe I don't want to hide it anymore."

She studied him as he spun them around the floor, his arms holding her loosely but securely.

"If we tell them…" She frowned and looked away, trying to find the right words. 

It's not that she didn't want everyone else to know; it's that she wasn't sure he really understood all the implications. She was used to being scrutinized, to having others looking at every little detail of her life. It was why she so frequently wore the Black Widow mantle in public. She only allowed a rare few access to the real her, and had only recently started allowing the other so-called Avengers in. 

Clint was different. He was a much more private person all around. She wasn't sure if _any_ of their new teammates knew the real him.

"If we tell them… what?" he prompted, nudging her chin up with a hand.

She looked up and met his eyes. "Then there's no going back."

"I don't want to go back," he said as he bent his head and kissed her, right there in the center of the dance floor. 

As kisses went, it was rather chaste, a light touch of his lips against hers. It definitely wasn't the most heated or scorching kiss they'd ever shared. But that he'd kissed her here, now, in this place, sent her head spinning. She leaned back, a small _oh_ escaping her lips, and he repeated what he'd said.

"I don't want to go back," he said, steady and sure, a slow smile spreading across his face.

She grinned up at him, her eyes shining and was about to tell him how much that meant to her, when they were interrupted by a shout from across the room.

"Hey, you two! Assassins!" Tony called. "Knock it off. The mission's done. You can stop with the pretending."

"Who said anything about pretending?" Clint growled and she laughed against his neck. 

All this time they'd been hiding what they meant to each other and now it seemed they couldn't even come out as a couple like normal people.

Tony's eyebrows shot up and Pepper leaned into him, whispering something in his ear. Natasha could almost hear her chastising him.

"Oh hey, sorry," he said grudgingly. He studied them, his sharp eyes taking in Clint's arms wrapped tightly around her and her goofy, lovestruck look. "So that's the way it is?"

"Yeah, that's the way it is," Clint confirmed. 

He dipped his head and kissed her again and all the rest of it faded away -- the music, the team, everything -- until she heard Hill, catcalling them from her spot tucked away in the corner with Steve.

"Thank god," she said. "If you two didn't out yourselves soon, I was going to have to do it and that would not have been as pretty or as amusing."

The stunned silence from the team disappeared and suddenly everyone was laughing and chatting again, the music cranked up to play a toe tapping country song this time.

"No going back," she said, smiling up at him. "Everyone knows. You're stuck with me now."

"Yup," he said, grinning down at her. "Although I'm not sure you understand that I've been _stuck_ with you since Budapest."

"Oh, I've known. I just wasn't sure you knew."

"I knew," he vowed, eyes twinkling. "Now, are you gonna shut up and dance with me or what?"

And how was she supposed to say no to that? She tugged him down for one last searing kiss and then leaned into him, intent on dancing the night away in his arms.


End file.
